IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v29y2017i1d10.1057_ejdr.2015.87.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Looking Good: Mediatisation and International NGOs

Author

Listed:
  • Ben Jones

    (University of East Anglia)

Abstract

Many international NGOs value those parts of their work that are suited to media representation: campaigning, advocacy, projects that produce the right sort of images. In this article I make three points about this change. First, those parts of the NGO most reliant on media – such as the campaign desk – may be becoming more powerful. This can change the internal dynamics of NGOs. Second, the increasing use of media means that NGOs, like other organisations, hold themselves accountable in new ways. Third, NGOs may appear to look more and more like media organisations. These changes have received relatively little attention in the literature on NGOs, though they reflect a broader set of debates about the role of media in society. Using a case analysis of an international NGO, I suggest that the concept of mediatisation might be a useful way to understand some of the changes observed in the NGO sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben Jones, 2017. "Looking Good: Mediatisation and International NGOs," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 176-191, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:29:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1057_ejdr.2015.87
    DOI: 10.1057/ejdr.2015.87
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/ejdr.2015.87
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/ejdr.2015.87?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ebrahim, Alnoor, 2003. "Accountability In Practice: Mechanisms for NGOs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 813-829, May.
    2. Dima Jamali & Tamar Keshishian, 2009. "Uneasy Alliances: Lessons Learned from Partnerships Between Businesses and NGOs in the context of CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 277-295, January.
    3. Eric Werker & Faisal Z. Ahmed, 2008. "What Do Nongovernmental Organizations Do?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 73-92, Spring.
    4. Adil Najam, 1996. "NGO Accountability: A Conceptual Framework," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 14(4), pages 339-354, December.
    5. Anne Vestergaard, 2010. "Identity and Appeal in the Humanitarian Brand," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Lilie Chouliaraki & Mette Morsing (ed.), Media, Organizations and Identity, chapter 8, pages 168-184, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Terje Tvedt, 2006. "The international aid system and the non-governmental organisations: a new research agenda," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(5), pages 677-690.
    7. Kate Poland, 2004. "Development moments: radio's public face of development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(5), pages 705-715.
    8. Matt Smith & Helen Yanacopulos, 2004. "The public faces of development: an introduction," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(5), pages 657-664.
    9. John Cameron & Anna Haanstra, 2008. "Development Made Sexy: how it happened and what it means," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(8), pages 1475-1489.
    10. Kilby, Patrick, 2006. "Accountability for Empowerment: Dilemmas Facing Non-Governmental Organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 951-963, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Milena Lopreite & Michelangelo Puliga & Massimo Riccaboni, 2018. "The Global Health Networks: A Comparative Analysis of Tuberculosis, Malaria and Pneumonia Using Social Media Data," Working Papers 01/2018, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, revised Jan 2018.
    2. Willem Elbers & Lau Schulpen & Emma Frobisher, 2022. "Stuck in a “Catch-22”: Why Donors Fail to Include Grassroots Perspectives on CSO Legitimacy," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 921-939, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dorothea Baur & Hans Schmitz, 2012. "Corporations and NGOs: When Accountability Leads to Co-optation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 9-21, March.
    2. Hyman Zyl & Frederik Claeyé, 2019. "Up and Down, and Inside Out: Where do We Stand on NGO Accountability?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(3), pages 604-619, July.
    3. Banks, Nicola & Hulme, David & Edwards, Michael, 2015. "NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 707-718.
    4. Brendan O'Dwyer & Jeffrey Unerman, 2010. "Enhancing the role of accountability in promoting the rights of beneficiaries of development NGOs," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 451-471.
    5. Lore Wellens & Marc Jegers, 2017. "Beneficiaries’ participation in development organizations through local partners: A case study in Southern Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35, pages 196-213, October.
    6. Ranis Gustav & Xiong Shirley & Singer Olivia, 2012. "NGOs and Development Reconsidered," New Global Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 6(3), pages 1-24, December.
    7. Taylor, Dennis & Tharapos, Meredith & Sidaway, Shannon, 2014. "Downward accountability for a natural disaster recovery effort: Evidence and issues from Australia's Black Saturday," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 633-651.
    8. Andrews, Abigail, 2014. "Downward Accountability in Unequal Alliances: Explaining NGO Responses to Zapatista Demands," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 99-113.
    9. Kingston, Kylie L. & Furneaux, Craig & de Zwaan, Laura & Alderman, Lyn, 2023. "Avoiding the accountability ‘sham-ritual’: An agonistic approach to beneficiaries’ participation in evaluation within nonprofit organisations," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    10. Roberts, Susan M. & Jones III, John Paul & Frohling, Oliver, 2005. "NGOs and the globalization of managerialism: A research framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1845-1864, November.
    11. Sebastian-Ion Ceptureanu & Eduard-Gabriel Ceptureanu & Mihai Cristian Orzan & Irinel Marin, 2017. "Toward a Romanian NPOs Sustainability Model: Determinants of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-26, June.
    12. Nichols, Carly, 2020. "Nutrition sensitive agriculture: An equity-based analysis from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Dewi, Miranti Kartika & Manochin, Melina & Belal, Ataur, 2021. "Towards a conceptual framework of beneficiary accountability by NGOs: An Indonesian case study," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. John D. Cameron & Emmanuel Solomon & William Clarke, 2022. "Soundtracks of Poverty and Development: Music, Emotions and Representations of the Global South," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 785-805, April.
    15. Aldashev, Gani & Marini, Marco A. & Verdier, Thierry, 2015. "Governance of Non-Profit and Non-Governmental Organizations - Within- and Between- Organization Analyses: An Introduction," MPRA Paper 80447, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jan 2015.
    16. Duval, Anne-Marie & Gendron, Yves & Roux-Dufort, Christophe, 2015. "Exhibiting nongovernmental organizations: Reifying the performance discourse through framing power," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 31-53.
    17. Dhanani, Alpa, 2019. "Identity constructions in the annual reports of international development NGOs: Preserving institutional interests?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-31.
    18. Abdulkadir Abdulrashid Rafindadi & Zakariyah Aliyu Olanrewaju, 2019. "The Impact of Internal Control System on the Financial Accountability of Non-Governmental organisations in Nigeria: Evidence from the Structural Equation Modelling," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 9(3), pages 49-63.
    19. Chenhall, Robert H. & Hall, Matthew & Smith, David, 2017. "The expressive role of performance measurement systems: A field study of a mental health development project," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 60-75.
    20. Miguel Rivera-Santos & Carlos Rufín, 2010. "Odd Couples: Understanding the Governance of Firm–NGO Alliances," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 55-70, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:29:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1057_ejdr.2015.87. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.